Tinsel Thief
by Hazeydream
Summary: Someone's stolen Elizabeth's tinsel and she think she knows who.


**Here's a wee Christmas fic inspired by events taking place in my work right now. Those waiting for updates on my other stories, sorry there taking so long. Hopefully I'll get my butt in gear during the holidays.**

**Spoilers: Various from season 2 probably, but very, veryminor.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything (well I own tinsel but that's not gonna make me rich is it!)**

**Tinsel Thief**

Dr Elizabeth Weir walked slowly around the briefing room, examining the ground. To anyone else this may have been a strange thing but to the leader, it was essentially detective work.

A glint on the floor caught her eye and she bent down to have a closer look. Under the table she could see the light catching on several bits of metallic material and smirked knowingly. Standing back up she stood behind the chair closest and placed her hands on the back, drumming her fingers almost evilly.

"I knew it." She murmured to the empty room and nodded her head coming to a decision.

* * *

Standing outside the door Elizabeth suddenly had second thoughts. Maybe it had been the cleaner, annoyed at the small pile of decoration littering the briefing room floor. Or maybe Zelenka had decided against her having it, deciding to keep it for himself instead. The stuff was scarce now; practically the entire city had been done. Sighing in confusion she was about to walk away when the door slid open, the room's occupier almost bumping into her slim frame.

"Woa! Elizabeth?" Col. John Sheppard asked curiously as she looked guilty.

"Hey." She replied changing expression and smiling at him. It was friendly…for now.

"Hey. Did you want to talk to me?" He asked smiling back and stepping to the side so she could enter, a normal ritual for her.

"Yeah, I did." She replied lightly wandering around the room her eyes searching carefully for the stolen treasure. Feeling his intense gaze on her back and hearing the door shut she whipped round and glared at him, raising one eyebrow. "What did you do with it?"

To give him credit John didn't even blink and he merely frowned, evidently trying to portray innocence as well. "With what?"

Elizabeth scoffed and folded her arms. "You know damn well what John Sheppard."

A quick look of amusement flickered across his face before the innocence was back in place. "No, Elizabeth, I really don't. Did you loose something?"

It took all of Elizabeth's strength not to scoff again and she smirked. "As a matter of fact, yes I did. So, I agreed to your request that we should decorate Atlantis hoping it would boost morale and brighten the place up. And once the decorating was done, you may recall Dr Zelenka had one, small, piece of gold tinsel left."

Again John almost smirked, obviously enjoying her little story read out like some kind of Columbo episode. Copying her stance he answered, "Yes, he did. And I recall he gave it to you…for your briefing room chair."

"That's right." She stated still stern. What she didn't know was that John Sheppard found her incredibly sexy when in this kind of mood and enjoyed annoying her to keep her in it.

"Yeah, and you know why? Cause he's got a huge crush on you." He told her liking the way she blushed at his comment. "He didn't offer anyone else the tinsel."

Narrowing her eyes Elizabeth added, "He gave me the tinsel because I was particularly…sad that day. He's nice that way."

John wanted to remind her that it was him she was dancing with at the moment and not the Czech but kept his mouth shut. He simply smiled and nodded.

"So….where did you hide it?" She asked again sauntering around the room again throwing him questioning glances every now and then.

"What makes you think I have it?" John asked following her trail eyes roaming over her curves.

"Because I saw the look on your face when Radek gave me it. You had already asked for a piece for your door but I got the last one." She explained running a hand over his desk and then turned to face him, surprised at how close he was now. He halted and shrugged.

"I then noticed some tinsel under your chair in the briefing room. Where is it?" She repeated the question softly.

They stared for a moment, not entirely sure the subject was still tinsel anymore. She was right. He had been annoyed at Zelenka's tinsel gesture but not for the reasons she stated. It was normally he who cheered up Elizabeth when she was down, not the scientist and the generous tinsel gesture had beaten him to it.

When he first took the decoration from her chair it had been as a joke, something Elizabeth was not shy to. Their little dance after any practical joke he played always consisted of flirting and meaningful glances. But in the end Elizabeth always won out and got a full confession. As evidence of her own enjoyment of the dance they did she never punished him…just gave him a telling off in front of the victim.

But then John realized it may have been out of petty jealousy and was now confused as to what exactly that meant.

"Tell you what." He murmured moving closer. "Promise that you'll be at the party tonight and you'll get it back. And I mean for the full night, no running off to finish reports or anything like that."

Looking up at him Elizabeth saw the mischievous glint in his eyes but felt powerless to say no. Biting her bottom lip she answered, "Okay."

Moving away from him she kept their eyes locked, her mind running over the various ideas the man may have had for this 'Christmas Eve' party. Reaching the door Elizabeth flashed him one last puzzled look before leaving, allowing John to breath out and shake off the tense atmosphere that had descended his room.

Staring at the door for a minute John finally turned to his desk and opened the top drawer. Peering in he smiled at the two decorations sitting peacefully in his compartment. He had a funny feeling this would be the best Christmas party ever.

* * *

Four hours later the party was in full motion and John Sheppard almost choked on his beer when Rodney McKay began dancing to YMCA. He hated this song but would gladly play anytime if it meant reminding the scientist about this very moment.

He felt a massive figure draw up beside him and squinted to see Ronon Dex watching the dancing crowd unimpressed. "What is he doing?" He asked gruffly indicating his head to Rodney.

"What can I say? The man likes to dance." John replied amusedly before taking another swig of beer.

"It's embarrassing." The large alien stated folding his arms.

"Which is why I'm glad it's here than off world." John agreed. "Don't worry, we can now use this for plenty of blackmailing."

"True." Ronon agreed with a nod of the head and coughed when Telya Emmagen wandered to them. "Hi. Having fun?" He asked casually as John rolled his eyes at the man's obvious crush.

"Indeed. We should do this more often." She answered smiling merrily. "This…eggnog is very good." She added holding up the half empty glass.

"Haven't tasted it." Ronon told her and his colleagues looked on disbelief.

"_You_ haven't tasted something strange and new to you?" John asked slowly, remembering all the times the runner had eaten or drank something completely foreign to him.

"You should really try it." Teyla assured him. "Come and I'll get you some."

As she walked off Ronon glanced at Sheppard who patted him on the shoulder. "Have fun."

Alone again John scanned the crowd for the hundredth time becoming agitated at not seeing Elizabeth yet. Taking another scan the pilot eventually spotted the mass of curly brown hair and grinned.

Squeezing by his dancing colleagues John suddenly stopped when he saw Elizabeth deep in conversation with Dr Zelenka. They were laughing and chatting like best buds and for a moment John didn't know what to do. His decision was made for him when Elizabeth looked up and saw him.

Pursing his lips John walked to them and waved. "Hey."

"John." Elizabeth greeted, a lot friendlier than earlier and her eyes danced with anticipation. It would seem she had had several drinks already.

"Colonel." Radek slurred in broken English. "I was just telling Dr Weir about how we celebrate Christmas back home."

"Yeah?" John said politely wishing the man would leave them alone.

"It's actually very fascinating." The leader told him raising an eyebrow and then faced the Czech. "I'm sorry Radek but I have something to discuss with John. Perhaps we could talk later?"

"Okay." Zelenka said, sounding a little disappointed and was immediately snatched away by a French bopping botanist.

Laughing a little Elizabeth asked, "So, where's my tinsel?" Setting the glass down she then placed her hands on her hips, showing she meant business.

"Quick to the subject." John noted also setting down his bottle beside her glass. "It's in the next room."

Elizabeth frowned. "Why?"

"Just because. Come." He ordered and led her out of the party. As they moved down the corridor the music became slightly muffled and then John opened the next room's door.

He suddenly stopped, holding out a hand to stop Elizabeth walking in. "So, you want your tinsel back?"

Sighing in mock annoyance she muttered, "Yes, haven't we had this conversation?"

Smirking back John then told her, "First you have to do something."

And up went the eyebrow. "Huh?"

He glanced upwards and Elizabeth followed his gaze and felt her heart stop.

Dangling from the doorframe was a piece of mistletoe next to her gold strand of tinsel.

"Oh." Was all she could say and returned her gaze to John's piercing stare. They were effectively jammed in the narrow doorway and could feel each other's breaths tickling their lips. It just made the idea of a kiss more enticing.

"So, if I kiss you I'll get my tinsel back?" Elizabeth murmured trying not to look at his lips.

"Yes." Came the clarified answer and if possible John moved in closer.

"Okay." She whispered and let John capture her lips in a breathtaking kiss. It started off slow and unsure but then became more heated with hands finally making contact. His gripped her waist while hers caressed the side of his head. They eventually moved into his hair as his slid under her t-shirt.

Lost in the moment, they eventually parted when voices could be heard further down the hall. They disappeared and left the couple alone, both breathing heavily. Despite being unsure of what they had just done neither could break the strong gaze they were stuck in.

John kept his hands on her waist, his thumbs rubbing her warm skin, glancing at her swollen lips now and then. Elizabeth's hands had settled on his upper arms, enjoying the feel of his muscles. Keeping his eyes on her John then removed one hand and reached up snatching the tinsel off of the doorframe and held it out.

"Your tinsel." He uttered seeing many emotions cross her face.

Taking it Elizabeth fingered it for a moment before asking, "Why?" Looking up the answer was clear on his face and she had the sudden urge to run. This was getting very serious.

"It's usually me who…" He started but trailed off as he averted his eyes. He felt Elizabeth touch his cheek and he sighed. Looking at her again he continued, "I'm the one who normally comes to your rescue. But Zelenka got there first and I guess it just annoyed me."

John looked so ashamed Elizabeth couldn't help but grin and she placed her hands on his chest.

"Dr Zelenka may have cheered me up that day but…John, I know you're always there." She told him sincerely. "Besides, you've rescued me so many times you deserve a break now and then." She added hoping to lighten the mood.

John didn't laugh. "But I don't want a break." He almost whispered and his one statement suddenly made everything clear. Elizabeth searched his face for any kind of amusement and there was none. He was serious.

As her mouth quirked up slightly she leaned forward and told him, "Okay." And confirmed her own feelings by kissing him softly. He immediately responded equally as gentle and was a little shocked when she pulled back again.

Frowning down at her Elizabeth moved into the room before murmuring "Tinsel thief." She then grabbed his t-shirt and dragged him in after her.

Next door all of Atlantis continued to party.

**THE END**

**A/N: What you think?**


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